Democrats confident they will flip Pennsylvania House

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- As election results continue to trickle in Wednesday, Pennsylvania continues to deliver shock after shock.

Democrats are optimistic they're taking control of the Pennsylvania House, flipping it for the first time in more than a decade.

"I think this has caught a lot of people off guard," said John Kennedy, a political science professor at West Chester University. "You have to lay some of the responsibility at the top of the Republican ticket and how poorly they did, particularly the Republican's gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano."

Democrats need a dozen seats to gain control of the House, and a handful of races are still neck and neck, including Montgomery County's 142nd District and Buck's County's 144th District.

SEE ALSO: Political expert explains why Josh Shapiro won Pennsylvania governor's race months ago

After ABC News projected Shapiro as the winner late Tuesday night, Mastriano came short of conceding the race but did take time to thank his supporters.

Republicans retain control of the state Senate, but with a Democratic House, analysts say the Republican agenda would be dead in the water.

"The Republicans have bundled a number of amendments together in this past year, which included limits on abortion rights, limiting the power of the PA Supreme Court, which is majority Democratic, voter ID laws and a number of other items they had hoped to bundle together and then pass in the next session which would begin in January," said Kennedy.

And with Democrat John Fetterman defeating Republican Mehmet Oz in the closely watched US Senate race, analysts say it's significant that Democrats won three open congressional seats and the governor's race in Pennsylvania.

"This was a defeat for Donald J Trump in many many respects," said Terry Madonna, senior fellow in resident for political affairs at Millersville University. "I actually thought that Mastriano, a diehard Trump supporter, would do better in the polls...but in the end, Josh Shapiro still won by double digits."

Madonna said voters were aware Trump is likely to announce another run for the presidency next week, which in turn, motivated Democratic voters to get to the polls.